


Godspeed

by willowscribe



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Consequences, Friendship, Gen, Melancholy, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark-centric, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-15 05:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17523041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowscribe/pseuds/willowscribe
Summary: Tony just wants to understand.or5+1: Five times Tony speaks to Zemo, and one time Zemo speaks to Tony





	Godspeed

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place starting right after CW and beyond the events of IW. As such, expect spoilers for IW if you have not seen it yet.
> 
> See end notes for warnings.

_**One** _

After two days of being off the grid in Siberia and three more in intensive surgery and a medically induced coma, Tony Stark wakes up. When he is released from the hospital two days later, it has been a full week since his entire world crumbled.

So naturally, he goes to see the man who orchestrated it.

“How are you liking prison so far?”

Zemo shrugs on the other side of the table, his hands bound by cuffs. “It has its disadvantages,” he says mildly. “The cuisine isn’t quite what I’m used to.”

“I could say the same about the hospital food, but I only just got off a feeding tube. It’s hard to judge taste when the food bypasses your mouth and goes straight to your stomach.”

Zemo has the decency to look sorry. “It was that bad?”

“Do you care?” Tony leans across the table, trying to read what Zemo might be thinking.

Zemo frowns. “I suppose I shouldn’t. But then, you’re here now. I have to admit, your complexion would be better without the purple bruises.”

“It’s a new look I’m trying out,” Tony deadpans. “My girlfriend tells me that smoky eyes are in.”

Zemo hums to himself. “Don’t make the effort.”

Tony snorts, then winces at the pain in his ribs. “I’ll keep that in mind for the next time I see my parents being murdered with the killer in the room. Wouldn’t want to offend your fashion sensibilities.”

“Of course not. Goodbye, Stark.”

 

_**Two** _

“How did you know?”

Zemo makes a questioning noise from the other side of the interrogation table. Tony glowers at him. “My parents,” he elaborates. “How did you know to use them? It seems to me that your plan hinged on me not knowing already.”

Zemo shrugs. “I am an observer by nature. There was footage of your speech at MIT, the one where you demonstrated your retro-framing technology. It was not difficult to tell that you were unaware of the truth, but nonetheless were still affected by the event itself.”

“It still seems like a hell of a coincidence. All the pieces you pulled together were statistically improbable.”

“And yet…” Zemo trails off and offers Tony a tight smile. “To be fair, I have been seeking vengeance since Sokovia fell. My entire family died that day, you know? I’m no superhuman, but I’m certainly competent enough to decrypt the SHIELD files that Rogers so helpfully dumped on the Internet. I was looking for anything that might help my mission. It was nothing personal, I assure you.”

Tony clenches his fists. “It was personal to me,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Just as the events in Sokovia were personal to me,” Zemo says placidly. “I’ll admit,” he adds after a moment, “I do pity you. I too was unaware that Rogers had already known. I expected that he would be conflicted with the knowledge that Barnes had killed his friend, and would struggle with how to react.” He purses his lips. “It seems that even with my rather low expectations, I still managed to overestimate the quality of his character.”

 

_**Three** _

“Thank you,” Tony says to Zemo six months after Siberia.

Zemo frowns at him, hands cuffed to the table. “For what?” he says.

“Rogers.” Tony smiles sardonically. “It turns out, you’ve been more honest with me than he ever was. I never would have found out who he really is without you. So thank you.”

“Mr Stark, it was my genuine pleasure,” Zemo says lightly, but a small frown is evident in the wrinkles on his forehead. “So now what?” he asks. “The Avengers are gone. My work is done. What will you do next?”

At this, Tony genuinely smiles for the first time in many months. “I’m going to save the world.”

 

_**Four** _

“Tell me about your family.”

“That’s a bit crass, don’t you think?”

Tony sits across from Zemo, elbows on the table and fingers steepled in thought. “No,” he says. “You burnt your whole world down to avenge them. I want to know.”

A ghost of a smile flits across Zemo’s face. “My wife and son were staying with my father outside the city,” he says. “Katya was… she was the most beautiful woman in the entire world. She was perfect in every way. And Carl… he was the best son a father could ask for. So bright and full of promise! I was a soldier, Mr Stark. I was a killer for a living. But Carl was going to be different. He was going to be better than I was. He was going to do good in this evil world.”

“I’m sorry.” Tony says it sincerely. “I know it doesn’t mean anything coming from me, but I _am_ sorry. I… In the past few months, I’ve had to really reevaluate what makes a true family. There’s this… kid. I’ve been working with him, and he’s _so_ _damn good_. He’s made me a better man. He’s made me think differently about everything I thought I understood.”

“Fatherhood will do that to a man, Mr Stark.” Zemo shrugs listlessly. “It will change you for the better, but if someone takes away your child, you will tear the whole world apart to get them back. And if you can’t get them back, well…” He gestures to himself, chains rattling as his bound hands move to and fro.

Tony stiffens. “He’s not my child.”

“Perhaps not biologically. But I was once a father, and I know what it looks like.” He smiles wistfully, his gaze not on Tony but rather fixed up at the ceiling. “Fatherhood is a gift, Mr Stark. Do not squander it.”

 

_**Five** _

“He’s dead.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

“You know, I wanted to hate you, but now I understand. My son is dead, and I’m going to avenge him.”

Zemo offers a tight smile. “Then I wish you godspeed, Mr Stark.”

 

_**\+ One** _

After Tony and the others save the world, Zemo requests to speak with him one last time.

“I’m sorry,” Zemo says as he sits strapped in the chair.

“You don’t mean that,” Tony says flatly, arms crossed and standing a distance away from the man in front of him.

“I do.” Zemo shakes his head in wonderment. “You’re a good man. Better than me, in any case. I don’t regret what I’ve done, but I regret that it hurt you.”

There’s nothing left for Tony to say. “Good luck in the next life, Helmut. Say hello to your son for me.”

The technician comes into the room then, syringe loaded with lethal chemicals. He doesn’t have to say anything. Both Tony and Zemo know how this is going to end.

“Godspeed,” Tony says to Zemo as he pauses by the door to the sterile room. Zemo doesn’t respond. Tony doesn’t look back to see why.

“Godspeed,” Tony whispers to himself as he heads down the hall of the facility alone.

(If one day Tony’s son James will carry the middle name Carl, no one needs to know why.)

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: the +1 scene contains a brief depiction of lethal injection as a form of capital punishment
> 
> Please no Civil War discourse in the comments. That's not what this fic is about. None of Tony or Zemo's words or thoughts should be taken as Word of God. This fic is not intended to justify or excuse any character's behavior, merely to tell a story through their lens.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you thought!


End file.
